Final Heroes: Before
It is worth noting that this serial is no longer canon or fanon, the author no longer wishes this series to be associated with other articles in the Final Heroes lore. Final Heroes: Before is a prequel serial to Mavrah333's YouTube series Final Heroes (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcAYhwHH-UaYCaGJaktjUKUk9N6h5LAB4). This follows Mavrah, Keloric, Jox and others before the events of Final Heroes. NOTE: Mavrah333 has rated this 10+ for violence, implied language and other themes. Introduction 80 years ago Coughing and spluttering, Mavrah emerged from the cave. The two Toa he'd been with were dead, both of them. 'What were their names again?' thought Mavrah bitterly, 'Kopaka and Pohatu, that was it.' The two Toa hadn't stood a chance against the giant rahi which had killed them with ease. However, Mavrah still didn't know where he was. He looked around. The ground was littered with the debris of, what had happened? He could remember plunging the crystal into the cannon before destroying the rahi. If he had been successful, then the rahi would be dead by now. If he hadn't... The thought wasn't comforting, but he had to be sure. He had to make sure the rahi was dead. He owed the Toa that much. They had rescued him, he should at least avenge them. Cautiously, he looked over the rocky wall he was standing behind. To his relief, the red and black limbs of the rahi were scattered throughout a crater. It was filled with remains of the rahi, along with a sprinkling of purple crystals, which were evaporating. Mavrah started moving. If there were Toa, then there was some sort of civilization left. He had to find it. If he tried, he could save it. If he tried, he could destroy it. Chapter 1 20 Years Ago The city was at war. Fires raged across the settlement, as Kanorian troopers formed a last line of defense against the invaders. Corporal Vetrius, a veteran of some seven wars and missing an eye, clambered down into a hastily build trench, where his deputy, Captain Falcia, was mounting an anti-infantry gun. She turned to Vetrius, and grimaced. 'I'd hoped that they'd do what they normally do, but this attack is different.' 'We aren't just fighting spawnlings Captain.' Vetrius replied grimly. 'The brotherhood seem to have conquered other areas. I've counted rogue Skrall and Zyglak amongst their ranks. They're combining numbers with intelligence and brute force. We've lost this battle.' He paused. 'I heard you have children.' Falcia nodded: 'A boy and girl. But they're hardly children anymore. Corrixa's nineteen, and Ketrophak's seventeen.' Vetrius smiled: 'You've been a good soldier Falcia, and over the years I don't think I've ever met another person whose tactical mind could surpass yours.' Falcia cocked her head: 'Your point?' Vetrius gulped, and then looked at her in the eyes: 'I don't want you to die pointlessly with the rest of us. I've sent the order round to the troops. Anyone who wishes may leave the line, be honorably relieved from military service, and be with their families. The second brotherhood may take no prisoners, but they don't kill citizens. I am inviting you to home to your family, on one condition.' Falcia gasped. 'I don't know how to thank you.' Vetrius sighed. 'I do: I want you to start a rebellion.' Falcia turned to look at a map on a table. 'You mean, a resistance against the brotherhood.' 'Exactly!' Vetrius walked up to the table. 'We might not win an open war, but wars in the underworld? Then we could do some damage.' Falcia turned to him: 'Clearly, you don't read much news. There are at least four groups doing just that. With a few changes in how they work, such as becoming freedom fighters as opposed to terrorists, then I think I could run them. I'll join them, try to rise in the ranks, and eventually: lead them. I promise you this.' Vetrius smiled again: 'Thank you Falcia. The others are leaving. I and a few others will take out as many of our foes as you can. Run home as fast as you can, ditch your uniform, try to live a life.' An explosion nearby interrupted him. 'Good bye.' Falcia hugged him. 'Good bye.' Vetrius and Falcia stayed in each other's embrace for a few seconds. Then Vetrius let go. 'Go, now!' Chapter 2 Dust flew into the scope. Again. 'Mata Nui!' cursed Keloric quietly, before clearing the dust out of the sniper rifle's scope. Again. 'Shut up!' whispered Sejau, 'We have to be perfectly timed.' Keloric hated his commander, but he knew that he was right. One wrong move, and the entire operation could go up in smoke. The attack was staged to be carried out in ten minutes. Ten minutes in the sweltering heat, the sand, it was unbearable. Making sure that the scope was cleared out of sand, Keloric placed his sniper rifle into the set position. 'We have ten minutes,' Sejau whispered to the volunteers. There were eight of them, all of them enemies of The Order of Mata Nui, all with nothing to lose. None of them cared if they lived or died, as long as, she, was dead. 'I want all shots aimed at Retilios. We are sacrificers, but not butchers. Kill no-one else unless under attack. Understood?' All seven of the other assassins nodded. They had all hated the Order from some point, some having been born under its harsh rule, others having to see friends and family die. Keloric had lived freely, until two years ago, when The Order had invaded his village. So many innocent lives lost that day... Keloric stopped reminiscing when a bullet whistled past his head. Cursing, Keloric ducked down, and realized that two of the other assassins were lying on the floor, in pools of blood. Keloric looked around to see that the roof they had been lying on was under attack. Chapter 3 Ruen hated flying. The other troops had been awake since dawn. Ruen had overslept. This wasn't good. The sergeant told Ruen that he could join the mission, but his rations were being cut. Ruen didn't care. He just wanted a taste of some action. Life in the fort was boring, and no-one cared about a day's rations just to stave off the boredom for a few hours. Everyone knew that these missions wouldn't be easy, and there were always one or two people not coming back. However, a minute in the camp felt as long as a day in action. Picking up an assault rifle, Ruen joined the nine other troops hand picked for the job. They had all been trained by an organization so secretive that even members in the organization would be lucky to know if there any more than a few hundred in the organization. Ruen suspected that there were at least one thousand people in this group, but he couldn't be sure. The ten of the soldiers marched into the aerial transport, awaiting departure. Gulping, excitedly, Ruen took his place on the ship. It juddered, and slowly took off. Looking around at his team, Ruen could tell that all of his allies were both experienced and well equipped for the task ahead. However, Ruen had had little experience in the field, and had only used this particular weapon for the last few days of constant training. The ship was rocking from side to side. Ruen felt sick. Coughing back some sick, he waited about ten minutes, until the ship landed onto the roof of a flat. Loading his rifle, Ruen looked up to see his squad commander gesturing the rest of the team to move forward. The squad moved forward, and the sergeant trained his sniper rifle on a citizen five hundred yards ahead of them. Jecko also trained his weapon on another. All of these citizens were heavily armed. Ruen didn't know what they were planning, but it didn't look good. The rest of the team had sorter ranged weapons, and had to creep forward with rifle, pistol, shotgun, and in one case, a portable machine gun. The machine gunner set his rifle up in a spot which would be easy to defend, and the others gathered around in a defendable formation. Chapter 4 Jox waited patiently. The forest was alive with smell, sound, but not a single rahi seemed to be emerging from the glistening pool where she was waiting. The food supply at the base was growing less, and foragers were working overtime simply to gather food for themselves, let alone the rest of the village. Jox was a skilled hunter, and knew the forest like the back of her own hand. Something was wrong. Annual rahi migrations seemed to have stopped, entire species left the forest for other habitats. The village never adapted well to change, and one simple change like this could spell disaster. Jumping down to the muddy ground, Jox looked around. To her surprise, a small, white, rectangular building was standing among the forest vines. Making sure that there were no traps or people nearby, Jox walked over to the room. It had an emblem of the Order of Mata Nui on it. Shrugging, Jox got to work opening the door. It was locked, but Jox had become an expert in breaking into buildings over years of working for whoever would pay her for the valuables of others. She had thrived during the times when the village had been divided. Now, however, the village was united, but only in a common cause: survival. Stealing had become almost worthless: what ever crop you grew, or prey you caught, you ate it or sold it immediately these days, and money wasn't worth much. The door had been easier to open than Jox had anticipated. The door opened into a small room; blue lights illuminating a metallic-silver interior. It was about the size of a lift, with metal railings on the floor and water vapour rising from vents on the side. The sun was going down, so Jox made a mental note of where this building was. The next time she would be out foraging, she'd perform a proper investigation. Chapter 5 Unknown Time Stumbling across the red hot stones, the black and silver figure made his way down the hill. He half walked, half tumbled, down the rocks, until he collapsed onto the sand. Picking himself up, he started running along a dried-up riverbed, devoid of life. There was no evidence that anything lived here. Struggling to recollect his thoughts, the figure racked his mind to remember things. His name. He had to remember his name. Dorvo. His name was Dorvo. That was a start. Now how had he got here? Looking up to the red and black sky, he could see what appeared to be a sun, but it was red, with a black outline. It wasn't producing much light, other than a red tinge to the red surface he was making his way across. However, there was a lot of heat. Was that how he had got here? He remembered a black portal, he had fallen into it, no, been sucked into it. What was it? What was he doing here? 'If you want to know the answers to your questions, you'll have to follow me.' came a voice. Dorvo turned around to see someone who looked just like him. 'Come on!' said the figure, gesturing towards Dorvo, telling him to follow him. Chapter 6 20 Years Ago Dropping his sniper rifle, Keloric pulled out a silenced SMG. He ran from wall to dust plastered wall. His brothers in arms were mostly using assault rifles and pistols to fight off their foes; Keloric followed likewise, opening fire upon the enemy. But something was wrong. These weren't Order soldiers. They were mostly taller, and there was no obvious mark or uniform distinguishing them any other citizen. Keloric didn't have time to care about that however. He saw Sejau and Molticus crawling towards the enemy soldiers with an explosive. Keloric rushed to the left, giving covering fire to distract the enemy from Sejau and Molticus. Chucking a grenade at the enemy, he crouched down next to one of his comrades. He appeared to have taken a shot to his arm, and looked at Keloric with the look of someone who knew that their time had come. He passed Keloric his sniper rifle, telling Keloric that he'd keep the enemy from shooting Keloric if he could complete the mission. 'Five minutes.' groaned the dying soul. Nodding, Keloric ran from cover to cover back to his original position. A grenade landing next to him, he threw it off of the ledge he was on in the nick of time. Realizing he only had three minutes left, Keloric pulled the sniper rifle into the appropriate position, and took aim. He had a few minutes to kill a dictator. If he succeeded, who knows? Perhaps he might live to see what would happen.